Opinion – Vinicius Torres Freire: Alckmin makes a very economical policy in Lula’s transition 3

Geraldo Alckmin doesn’t like a deficit, more by temperament than by theory. The vice-president-elect does not seem to understand economics, he never had a group of economists around him, nor did he get involved in the transition government’s economic debates.

However, Alckmin has lowered several boils and passes economic messages. He calls up well-known economists or receives, from his small circle, reports or reports, such as those about how the pot thickened in the interest rates of the financial market, which he became worried about. If he had the opportunity to say these things to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, it was not possible to determine. But he has said and done things of some relevance, smoothly.

Even though he said around that he knew nothing about the ministry, he helped to contain the lobbying that some important figures in finance were doing against the appointment of Fernando Haddad to the Ministry of Finance. Last week, rumors from the small and medium sized market nominated him for the Farm.

Transition politicians say he will be heard when nominating people for Planning, Industry and Commerce and BNDES. It builds bridges with people who can advise Lula, formally or informally.
In the last three weeks, he has tried, in a very careful way, to prevent PT leaders and some of their parliamentarians from continuing to beat the scarecrow of the “market”, following what Lula had done on November 9 and 10. The noise subsided.

He sought to reinforce the idea that Lula should have an organized council of economic advisers. This idea began to circulate days after the second round and submerged. It surfaced again when Edmar Bacha, Arminio Fraga and Pedro Malan published a letter to Lula, in this Sheetafter the president-elect caused an uproar with speeches that downplayed the bad public debt situation.

Now, they are thinking about a council in a format that allows the participation of economic figures. Neither these big names are available or willing to work permanently with Lula, nor would the government want a very close shadow. But Alckmin would like to get some of those big shots talking to Lula on a regular basis. The “broad front” must continue.

Alckmin speaks in a soft but determined way about certain directives of the Lula government. If it’s for real, who knows, but the vice-elect is the peacemaker in relations with the private sector.

During the transition, only Alckmin clearly states that Lula 3 will have a plan to contain spending in order to contain public debt. Initially, it was inspired by a plan organized under the leadership of Felipe Salto, Secretary of Finance in São Paulo. He suggests in the internal statements that the extra spending package does not exceed R$ 135 billion.

In public and private meetings, he says that Lula 3 is not going to revoke anything from the labor reform (especially the agreement on the legislature, the union tax and the norms that limit the number of labor lawsuits). There would only be “improvements”. Sells the idea that more trade liberalization is a firm idea of ​​Lula 3.

Alckmin observes in the internals that the parliamentary coalition is thin and ill-sewn, with Lula for now very dependent on the good will of Arthur Lira (PP-AL), current and probably future president of the Chamber. Therefore, he suggests that the government’s leadership team in Congress has fewer PT members and more allies.

Alckmin is, formally, the general coordinator of the transition. He has been trying to be in fact, without getting into a divided ball and not going beyond the area limited by Lula, making a very economical policy.